Come learn how to be part of the initiative at one of the kick-off events — you can come at 2 PM on Saturday, April 20, or at 6 PM on Wednesday, April 24. See more details in the flyer below (la versión en español también esta adjunta). Everyone is welcome: residents, students, parents, business owners, local organizations, churches, etc. Light refreshments will be served. See you there!

On Saturday, Melissa joined Friends of Brook Park, South Bronx Uniteand other concerned community members in marching on 138th Street and St Ann’s Avenue, demanding safer streets and protesting illegal truck traffic.

This comes in response to the hit-and-run that killed two pedestrians on Bruckner Boulevard, last Monday; marking the third recent fatal crash involving pedestrians and trucks in Mott Haven. Back in February, Melissa sent letters to the DOT and NYPDabout her concerns on illegal oversize trucks, hoping to open up conversation about traffic enforcement. She will be following up with the respective agencies about these matters.

Each of these deadly crashes have taken place near or around 138th Street, which is a notoriously dangerous thoroughfare, known for the crowds, speeding trucks and lax traffic enforcement by the local 40th Precinct. Although 138th Street is designated as a “local truck route,” that implies that it should only be used for in-borough deliveries, the reality is that truck drivers take advantage of 138th Street and other neighborhood streets as a way to avoid Major Deegan Expressway traffic. As per the the most recent data available, in February 2013, the 40th Precinct issued 449 tickets for tinted windows and a mere 4 tickets for trucks that strayed from designated routes, which really highlights to lack of enforcement that needs to be addressed. Something needs to change.

Please note that we have updated our Bronx Constituent hours to every Friday at Millbrook Houses Community Center (201 St. Ann’s Avenue), between 10 AM and 12 PM, noon. We look forward to meeting with you on a weekly basis. Click here if you’d like the PDF flyer.

It has been a great week in District 8, with hundreds of community members coming out to vote for projects that they believe in.If you haven’t had a chance to vote yet, there’s still time – check out the list of voting sites and times on our PB site, www.mmviverito.com/pbnyc. To conclude the weeklong voting process, the Second Annual Participatory Budgeting Celebration,unveiling the winning projects, will be held on Monday, April 8th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Johnson Community Center (1833 Lexington Avenue).

We are very excited to announce that our Second Annual Participatory Budgeting Celebration will feature a very special guest, San Juan’s Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto. As you may remember, Melissa had the honor to deliver the keynote at her inauguration. Mayor Carmen Yulín has pledged to implement a PB process in San Juan and is coming to see how the process works in our district.

“It is an incredible honor for me to welcome such an incredible woman and inspiring leader to our city for the first time since being elected Mayor of San Juan,” said Council Member Mark-Viverito. “Mayor Carmen Yulín is bringing a new style of democracy to San Juan. I am truly excited that she has committed to roll out a PB process in the city, which will help bring transparency and direct public input in how the government allocates resources. I look forward to continued collaboration with the Mayor’s administration in continuing to strengthen ties between our two cities and across the Puerto Rican diaspora.”

Last week, Melissa paid a visit to the Millbrook Community Center, where she has fought hard to keep their after-school programs, ranging from head-start to teen programs, open after Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts. Last year, Melissa and constituents across the district rallied at the Children’s Aid Society to restore the budget, which Melissa was ultimately able to do for the FY13 Budget.

The children of the after-school program wanted to thank Melissa for her work, so along with our staff, they plotted their surprise! And it was a success – when Melissa arrived at the Millbrook Community Center, they surprised her with handmade collages and cards that highlight just how special and important the after-school programs are to them.

A heartwarming visit, like the one last week, is definitely a major job perk!

Though we are already well into the new year, I thought it would be important to reflect on 2012 and some of the important accomplishments that we all achieved together. We held the first-ever Participatory Budgeting vote in the City of New York. We united to defend our community from district lines that would have cut out some of our most vital institutions. We also won protected bike lanes for First and Second Avenues, and helped save two of our local public schools from closure. And those are just a few examples.

Last year was an exciting one for our community and for my office. And there’s a lot to look forward to in 2013.

Friends of Brook Park announced today that shares are still available for their 10th year of the South Bronx Community Supported Agriculture Program at Brook Park. Growing in popularity around the nation with demand significantly outpacing supply, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers community members the opportunity to buy fresh, local, seasonal food directly from a farmer by purchasing a “share” in the farm. Shareholders “buy into” the farm as members at the start of the growing season, and in exchange receive a weekly allotment of the farm’s harvest. Shareholders and farmers share in both the risks and the many rewards of the growing season, which include weekly access to delicious, locally grown, nutritious vegetables – all grown without synthetic chemicals or pesticides.

THE UPCOMING 2013 SEASON:

This year’s South Bronx CSA season will begin in June and run through late October. Share pick-ups are scheduled on Wednesdays from 2 PM – 7 PM at Brook Park located on East 141st Street and Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx. Shares are just the right size for two or three adults or a small family. Local organizations, community centers and tenant groups that order four of more shares can have it delivered by a non polluting bike cart and trailer.

Click here to register for your share in South Bronx CSA. In an effort to make healthy foods available to everyone, they offer sliding scale prices based on individual’s incomes, accept payment installments, and welcome SNAP (food stamps) and EBT. The bulk payment early in the season is typical of the CSA structure because it brings in the necessary cash flow that is needed to purchase expensive equipment, such as machinery, fertilizers, and seeds.

This Saturday we will meet on East 138th Street & St. Ann’s Avenue in Mott Haven to rally for safer streets. Just last week, it was on the corner that we will meet that a 69 year old man, who lived around the corner, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer in the middle of the afternoon. Please join us in remembering this Mott Haven resident and rallying for less truck traffic that proves time and time again to be bad for pedestrians and the Bronx.

WHO: Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, South Bronx Unite, Casa Atabex Ache, Community Connections for Youth, Friends of Brook Park, Heketi Community Charter School, Mothers on the Move, Transportation Alternatives, and United Federation of Taino PeopleWHAT: Safe Streets in South Bronx RallyWHEN: Saturday, December 22, 2012 – 12 PM to 1:30 PMWHERE: East 138th Street and St. Ann’s AvenueFor more information, connect South Bronx Unite at 646.648.4362